The Repercussions of the Highland Story
by cybergirl26
Summary: It's 2020 and Robin's and Barney's paths meet once again. Written for ficathon suggested by Beneath the Umbrella.


Warnings: Includes some sexual content, swearing and drug use.

There was a time when Robin Scherbatsky believed in hard work as the key to success, but that was before she lost her marriage over her career.

Now, she believed that she deserved the grand career she had always envisioned simply because she sacrificed enough already. And let's face it, she was one of the best in the business.

But of course not everyone saw it that way and so she had resorted to other means to reach her goals.

Which was one of the main reasons why she was letting her boss fuck her during their meeting this afternoon.

She waited until he came down from his orgasm, "we never ended the discussion, but I take it that I get the Highland story, right?"

He kissed her shoulder, "it's a mingled and most likely dangerous story Robin… who else would I send for something like that?"

She smiled at him before getting up to collect her clothes.

"But seriously, be careful, I have a feeling that there is more to it than just a covered up arms deal."

"That's exactly what I'm hoping." Robin winked and leaned down to give him a peek on the cheek, "I take it you will announce the news during our team meeting later on?"

He nodded obedient, and she shot him one more grin before leaving his office.

…

The others were talking behind her back about it, no doubt. But she didn't care anymore, she wasn't here to make friends anyways.

Friendships in general was an overrated concept.

All she cared about today was that she finally got her hands on the classified papers they had received from their FBI mole.

Sitting alone in her office, she started to read through them.

The funds for investigating further had been cut, which was why the FBI themselves weren't going to dig deeper.

The whole thing screamed huge story, she just had to find it.

…

Two days later and all she had been able to get out of the stack of papers was that there would be a secret meeting tonight, and the name of one of the attendees.

The idiot had used his undercover name on all his online profiles as well.

Which is why Robin was waiting in his hotel lobby, ready to follow him to the location of their secret get together.

Everything went off without a hitch, the cab driver didn't loose his cab, she wasn't stopped or questioned while getting into the headquarter building of Highland Inc. and even caught his elevator.

The moment things went askew was once they stepped off the elevator.

She had left him some space and was ten steps behind him when someone swung his arm around her neck from behind, packed her hard and pulled her into the broom closet.

Everything happened so quickly that she wasn't even able to scream or defend herself.

The room was dark and her eyes hadn't adjusted to that yet.

His arm was holding her in place firmly, but he had let go of some of the pressure and hence wasn't cutting off her airways anymore.

His chest was pressed against her back and she could smell cheap perfume and gin tonic on him.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" he whispered into her ear.

Surprised, she tried to turn around, but he wouldn't let her.

"I know it's you Barney." She replied, she would recognize that voice anytime, anywhere.

"Not a huge accomplishment considering that we were married for three years." He replied, putting his mouth dangerously close to her ear.

"Doesn't answer my question though, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." She countered.

"I work here." He replied.

The hand that wasn't wrapped around her started to roam her body and Robin tried to get out of his hold once again.

"Stop it." She hissed.

"What? I can't even feel you up anymore Scherbatsky? You used to be more fun." He laughed.

"You too." She barked back, "I don't have time for your wicked games Barney. Let me go, I have an important meeting to attend."

"No you don't."

"Yes, I do." She wiggled again, but she was no match for him and his stupid habit of going to the gym all the time.

"Robin, you are a tv reporter, the only meetings you attend in the business world are the ones were you are the snitch and out for a big story. And I'm obviously not going to let you do that to the company I work for."

"This has nothing to do with you. And stop touching me." His free hand was laying on her ass now.

"Here is how this is going to work, we are going to come out of this closet as if nothing happened, and I will escort you out of the building. Understood?"

"How about you stay in here and rod to death while I do my thing."

Barney laughed, "we could stay in here together too, you know privately celebrate that we ran into each other like this."

"You are a pig." She replied.

"Why so prude?"

"Barney let go of me." She said once again.

"I'm about to, and then we will walk back to the elevator, get on it and I'll put you in a cab."

She struggled one last time before agreeing, "fine."

"Good girl." He

Moments after exited the closet, someone called out for Barney.

"Just one sec." Barney replied.

"Stinson, stop screwing everything with two legs and get in here."

Robin turned around to see who was talking and recognized the guy as the one he had been following.

Her eyes got wide as she looked at Barney, he was part of this? She also noticed that Barney was looking different, but couldn't quite identify why in the split second she had a chance to really look at him before he turned back.

"Just let me put her in a cab." Barney replied.

"It's okay, I can walk myself out." Robin replied, the guy was still watching them and she leaned closer and quickly kissed Barney on the mouth, "good seeing you, Stinson."

She winked at him one more time and then started to walk towards the elevator.

She didn't need to try and get into this meeting to get information. She had just found a much, much easier way to do that.

…

"I figured you'd come by" Barney said as he opened the door and let her into his apartment.

"Hey, I brought us a bottle of Glen McGenna." Robin replied and held it up, "I thought we could catch up, I mean it's been what? Close to four years?"

"Robin, I know you are only here because you want inside information." He replied.

"What? No, running into you made me realize that…"

"Just stop it." Barney interrupted her and took the bottle out of her hands, "let me guess, your plan was to make some small talk with me, which eventually would lead to us making out on the couch, followed by a round of wild sex in the bedroom, and then, after I fell asleep you would go through my files to get what you are looking for."

Robin watched him and noticed once more that something was off. He looked as if he was exhausted, with a light stubble on his face. Had he also lost some weight?

"Almost, I also wanted to get you drunk." She said, softer this time.

"Sleeping with someone to get information? That's a new low even for Ms. Career Robin Scherbatsky." He said as he poured her a scotch.

"I've done worse." She replied and came closer.

He handed her the scotch but halted before clinging glasses with her.

"Here is the deal," he started, "I'm down with following your plan. I actually brought some classified stuff home so you can steal it. It's probably not a bad thing if this shit hits the fan, but there is a catch. Or actually two. Number one, I get to be with the old Robin for the next two hours, not the bitch you've become…"

Robin opened her mouth to say something but closed it again and Barney went on.

"Secondly, you won't be the one breaking the story."

"What? You can't seriously expect me to hand this over to someone else."

"Pick your worst enemy at work and let him or her break the story of a lifetime because when they discover who did this, then there will be repercussions."

"Doesn't scare me. Besides, you could get in much more trouble when they find out who spilled the beans."

"Hence my reward…or shall I say last meal?" He grinned.

Robin thought it would be awkward, to just force something that simply wasn't there anymore, but instead they fell back into their old selves rather quickly.

"Hold on." She giggled.

They had already made it into his bed, and were both partially undressed.

"Let me cuff you."

"Hell no, I'm not going to let you get away without my full reward." Barney replied and pulled her back against himself, kissing her.

"That's not why, you love being tied down…besides, you can get out of those handcuffs anytime you want, I'd be stupid to try to use them to actually bound you to the bed."

Barney chuckled, and Robin pushed herself up and leaned over towards the nightstand.

She opened the drawer but Barney slammed it shut before she could reach inside.

"They aren't in there." He said, while holding the drawer closed.

Robin looked back at him, she had only gotten a short glance at the contents of the drawer and her brain was just slowly putting together what she had seen.

"And I don't want to play with cuffs." Barney added while pulling her back over to his side of the bed.

"Was that coke?" she asked.

"Course not." He relied and pulled her closer, kissing her neck in the process.

Robin moved her hands around his torso and pulled herself closer to him, "Barney…" she whispered but he interrupted her.

"Can we get to my reward or what?" Barney cut her off, "the sooner we start, the sooner you get your hands on the information you came for."

But suddenly the Highland story wasn't important to her anymore. She slowly put all the pieces together, him not looking like himself anymore, his harsh tone, not acting like the guy she used to know.

"Do you take cocaine?" she asked while clinging to him.

"It's none of your business, remember, you only came by because you cared about your career, not because you give a damn about me." Barney replied, he actually moved away from her but she kept her grip on him.

"So yes."

Barney got hold of her hands and moved them off of himself, "I think you should go."

"What?" she asked as he got off the bed and threw her blouse at her.

"Don't worry, you can still have the stupid papers." He turned around and walked towards his desk.

"I don't care about those, and I don't want to leave." She replied.

"Here." He held the papers out for her but she shook her head and pulled the comforter higher up.

"Get back in here Barney." She whispered.

"What? You suddenly have some pride? They are my gift, you don't have to do anything in return."

"I don't want them."

"Please, don't pretend to care about me, we both know its bullshit."

"Barney please, come here."

"Robin, I got dozens of girls on speed dial for booty calls, you aren't offering anything I can't get somewhere else. Yes, for a moment I thought it would be a novelty to sleep with you one more time but I've changed my mind."

"For how long have you taken this stuff?" she asked, leaning back over to look at the contents of the bedside table.

He didn't stop her, which confirmed her suspicion even before she opened the drawer.

"I'm old enough to take care of myself." He said.

She took a look at the contents of the drawer before getting out of bed.

"Barney, if you need someone to talk to or help you, then I'm right here." She said as she moved closer to him.

"Please, you only care about your career, always have, always will." He laughed and extended his arm to her in an attempt to give her the papers.

"That's not true." She replied stubborn, "I loved you."

"I don't care anymore.

"Barney."

"Take the papers and get out of my apartment Robin."

She hesitated before grabbing her clothing and heading for the living room.

She could hear him throw the stack of papers after her but didn't turn around. Instead she quickly put her pants and blouse back on and left the apartment.

…

She knew she was about to wake everyone up but she didn't care and rang the doorbell anyways.

It took five repeats of that same motion and almost ten minutes before Marshall finally opened the door.

"What the hell?" he asked.

"Oh good, you are up, we need to talk." Robin said as she slipped by him and into their living room.

"Robin? What do you think you are doing? We have little kids."

"It's an emergency…besides, your little rascals are sleeping through everything."

"Robin?" a doozy Lily asked behind her.

"Yes, it's we-never-see-her-ever-Robin, pulling us out of bed at two am." Marshall replied.

"Have you guys notices anything wrong with Barney?" Robin ignored him.

"Barney?"

"You woke us up to talk about Barney? Is this a divorcee thing? Did you guys sleep with each other again?" Lily asked.

"It's not about anything related to me, it's just about Barney. When was the last time you guys hung out with him?"

"I don't know, couple of months ago."

"It's hard to make the trip to the city with three little ones." Marshall offered as an excurse.

"Right….but the last time you saw him, did he seem off to you?" Robin kept asking.

"He was a little hyper, but he's been that way since the divorce."

"Since the divorce?" Robin asked shocked.

"Yeah, he's constantly acting as if on a sugar high, but that's just Barney."

Robin turned around and left the house, that was all she needed to hear.

"Robin get back here." Marshall yelled after her, but she ignored him and jumped back into the waiting cab.

Her next stop would have been Ted's and Tracy's but if Marshall and Lily hadn't made the trip to see Barney, then these two hadn't either.

…

She opted for waiting until the next morning to confront him again but when she got to his apartment, no one was answering.

"Barney come on I know you are here." She said as she banged on the door.

No reply.

A neighbor Robin vaguely remembered opened the door across the hall, "I saw him leaving with a suitcase this morning, I don't think he's there."

"Oh, okay, thanks." Robin replied.

She pulled her phone out and went through her contact list, thank goodness for her habit to never delete anyone.

It took her a second but she finally found the number she was looking for, _Travel Guy_.

"Yes?" the man answered.

"This is Robin, Barney's wife."

"You mean his ex-wife?" the guy asked.

"We have a messy relationship, yes, but yeah, that Robin."

"I don't work for you anymore."

"Too bad, I'll pay you double of what Barney paid you to get me on the next flight to wherever he's at."

"Do you really think I'm falling for that? I don't want to loose my best customer just because his crazy ex-wife is stalking him."

"He never has to know that you were the one who hooked me up with the flights and hotel." Robin retorted.

The guy hestitated.

"I pay you triple if you get me there tonight." Robin raised the stakes.

"Fine, but he can never find out."

"I won't say a word." She promised.

She let her phone slip back into her pocket and was just about to start walking away when she noticed a girl approaching Barney's door.

Interested to see what would happen, Robin decided to stay where she was.

"Is Barney home?" The girl asked her as she got close enough.

Robin shook her head, "sorry sweatheart."

"You are not his wife or anything, right?"

Robin laughed, "not anymore, we are divorced. I'm Robin." She extended her hand to the girl who shook it but didn't introduce herself.

"Good course that would have been weird."

"I take it you have an affair with him?" Robin asked.

"Does a one night stand count as an affair?" The girl asked.

Robin shrugged, "well, you are here looking for him so…"

"Yeah it's…well I mean you are going to find out eventually anyways, right? Given that you are his ex-wife but still friends with him."

"Find out about what?" Robin asked.

"I'm the mother of his child."

Robin's chin dropped, "wh…what?"

The girl nodded and showed her the ultrasound picture she had been clenching this whole time, "it's going to be a girl."

"Oh wow." Robin couldn't tell anything from the black and white image, "does he know?"

"Not yet. I was going to tell him today."

"He's on a business trip." Robin retorted.

"He is? Man, it took me months to bring up the courage to tell him and now he's not even there?"

Robin hesitated, "I will see him tonight…do you want me to tell him?"

"You would do that?" The girl asked.

Robin shrugged, "I wouldn't mind it, and it would help you out, right?"

"Totally, yes! You can give him the picture, our night happened four months ago, on January 31st."

Robin nodded, "okay…how can he reach you?"

The girl got a pen out and scribbled her phone number on the back of the ultrasound picture.

"Thanks…and you are sure that it's Barney's, right?" Robin asked.

The girl nodded, "he was the only one I … you know, slept with when I got pregnant."

…

Of course it had to be Belize.

She had heard rumors regarding the Highland deal having been initiated in Belize but was still surprised when Barney's travel guy mailed her the tickets.

She watched the group of men sitting around one of the tables on the terrace, while unsuspecting tourists where dancing on the dance floor right in front of them.

Luckily she had packed an appropriate dress for this occasion, now she just needed to get his attention.

Turns out, all it took was to order a drink at the nearby bar.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked before pulling her onto the dancefloor with him.

For appearances she guessed.

She smiled and wrapped her arms around his body, "hey."

"Robin, this isn't funny anymore. You've got to let this story go."

"I'm not here for the Highland story." She replied.

"What?" he asked confused.

She smiled and buried her face in the crook of his neck, he smelled good.

"Robin I don't have time for your games. You've got to get out of here."

"I will. Under one condition."

"What's that?"

"You quit your job and leave with me."

"You are insane." He replied.

"The alternative is that I will befriend one of your business partners." She raised her head and looked at him.

"Are you trying to blackmail me?" he asked.

"I'm trying to safe your life." She whispered.

"Oh god." He rolled his eyes, "here we go."

"You aren't yourself anymore Barney."

"As if you are still the same you were when we were married." He replied.

"I'm at least not addicted to any drugs."

"Addicted? I'm not addicted Robin." He replied, "you know what, do whatever you want, I'm not falling for your mind games."

He let go of her and she watched him head towards the bar to order another scotch.

She sighed and started heading towards the table where Barney's business partners where still sitting.

'Come on Barney, stop me!' She thought with each step she got closer.

She was mere twenty feet away when she felt his arm wrap around her arm, pulling her back towards the dancefloor.

"You are such a pain in the ass." He hissed as he dragged her through all the dancing couples to the other side of the terrace, where things weren't as busy.

"For the last time, this isn't a story about puppy's Robin. You don't know what you are getting yourself involved in here. You've got to leave."

She smiled, "you are quite concerned for my well-being."

He just gave her an annoyed look.

"Leave with me and I will drop the story." She repeated.

"You know how long it took me to find another job? No one wants to hire a former FBI snitch."

"I let my boss fuck me to get this story, yet I'm ready to walk away from it if it brings us back together." Robin replied.

"Back together?" Barney asked surprised, "that's why you are here? That's what you want?"

"I don't know. I know I don't want to be with the Barney Stinson I met in the closet yesterday, but with the old one? The guy I married?" She looked helplessly at him, "my life has been pretty depressing without him."

Barney rubbed his face with his hand, "you've got to be kidding me Robin. This is the wrong place and time to talk about this."

"Agreed. For now, you walk away from the job, and I walk away from the story. We'll figure everything else out at home."

Barney sighed, "you drive me nuts, you know that Scherbatsky? Seriously, the hold you have on me isn't even funny anymore."

She started to grin, "so we are getting the fuck out of here?"

"No, we aren't." He replied as he stepped forward, his hand moving up and towards the back of her neck, "we are grabbing a cab and head to the laguna where we spend our honeymoon, and then we bang this thing out."

He kissed her.

…

"I understand that…yes ….no….okay, bye." Barney threw the phone onto the bed where Robin was still laying, wrapped in nothing but the sheets.

"Lost my job." He announced.

"How do you feel about it?"

"I can live with it. Have you called your boss yet?"

Robin shook her head, "but I wrote him an e-mail and told him that I was off the story."

He sat down on the side of the bed and Robin continued, "I also asked him for a half-time contract."

"Seriously?"

Robin nodded, "I know it's way to early to see where this is going, but I don't want my career to get in the way again."

"I appreciate that."

"Of course the drugs have to stop." Robin added.

He nodded and slipped back under the covers himself.

"There is one more thing I need to tell you." Robin said and leaned over towards her handbag.

She pulled the ultrasound picture out and handed it to him.

"Aehm Robin, I'm not that firm when it comes to pregnancy knowledge, but I'm fairly certain that you wouldn't have an ultrasound picture with an actual baby on it two days after intercourse."

She smiled, "and here I thought I could trick you."

"Hold on, are you pregnant? What about your infertility? Are you asking me to raise another man's kid with you?" He started to panic.

"No you idiot." She replied, "it's your kid, I have nothing to do with it."

"What?"

"I ran into this girl, you banged her in January and now she's pregnant and it's yours. I believe it, she didn't seem like the kind of person who would make something like that up."

"What?" Barney asked once again.

"Her name should be on there. She said your night happened on January 31st."

"Number 31 is pregnant?" He asked.

Robin grinned, "you look as if you've just seen a ghost."

"Oh god, I don't want kids. Robin you know I don't."

"Barney calm down, it's going to be okay."

"No it's not. You hate kids. I never wanted any. This is a disaster."

"It's not a disaster Barney. You will be an incredible dad."

"Oh god."

"It's going to be a girl." Robin whispered, "and everything is going to be alright."

…

Robin jumped up when Barney came out wearing scrubs.

"Is she here yet?" She asked excited.

"I don't know. I was in there with her and the magnitude of what was happening hit me… I threw up and she kicked me out."

"You threw up?" Robin teased him.

"This could change everything… I mean what if I screw her up? What if she screws our relationship up?" he shrugged.

"She won't, she's your daughter, I am going to love her." Robin stepped forward and put her arms around his torso.

"An infant is still a lot of work and we will have her a lot."

Number 31 was still in college and the plan was that Barney would take the girl during the day so she could concentrate on finishing her degree.

Reluctantly, but with Robin's help and encouragement, he had transformed the spare bedroom into a nursery.

"I'll be there, together we'll figure it out." Robin whispered.

"Promise you are not going anywhere?" Barney asked.

"I promise."

"Congratulations!" a nurse interrupted them, "she's here."

"She is?" Barney asked surprised.

The nurse nodded, "do you want to see her?"

"Nah, I think I'm good."

"Go!" Robin hit his arm and gave him a push.

He caught her hand, "come with me?"

"Nope, that's your moment Barney. I'll meet her later. Go!"

Barney had just been gone a couple of moments when the rest of the gang burst into the waiting room.

"Robin?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Where is Barney? Are we too late?"

"Hey guys." Robin replied, "and yeah, you missed the seven hour wait, but Barney just left to meet his baby girl, so you are in time for all the good stuff."

"What are you doing here?" Lily repeated.

"I wasn't going to miss the birth of my stepdaughter." Robin replied as if what she was saying wasn't a big deal.

"Stepdaughter?" Ted asked surprised.

"Are you and Barney back together?" Marshall questioned.

Lily just plunged forward and hugged her, "the gang is finally back together!"

"Yes. Yes it is." Robin replied as Ted and Marshall joined into the group hug.

The Repercussions of the Highland Story

It's 2020 and Robin's and Barney's paths meet once again. Written for ficathon suggested by Beneath the Umbrella.


End file.
